Introduction to our Process for the Statement on Palestine
The Social Justice Committee of Westhope Presbyterian Church received a Statement on the Injustice in Palestine from the Poor People’s Campaign. With that as a starting point we worked to craft a statement that was distinctly ours. An excellent adult study concerning the situation of the Palestinians had raised our awareness and concern over the injustice being experienced there. Also we hosted a speaker from Bethlehem Bible College, Daniel Bannoura, who spoke of the oppression Palestinians endure.
We felt our faith called us to speak up on the behalf of those who have no voice. The more we studied, the more we felt we could not keep silent as followers of Christ. Over a year’s time and many revisions and edits, the Social Justice Committee now offers this Statement on Palestine.
We affirm the statement by the Stated Clerk of PCUSA, Dr. Herbert Nelson: “There should be no ambiguity as to the ethical and moral obligation we have to call out oppression wherever we see it, including in Palestine. We call on the United States to be a major influencer by condemning this injustice as both immoral and intolerable. As Americans, we must work together to end this crisis.”
Statement on Palestine
We stand in solidarity with the people of Palestine in their long pursuit of freedom, equality, and justice. The people of Palestine are suffering, and we have a moral obligation to lend our voices to theirs as they stand against oppression.
We acknowledge that the state of Israel has a right to exist, and we acknowledge that there are serious issues with how the state is expanding and how it is treating the Palestinian people. The Palestinians are subject to laws that determine where they are allowed to live, restrict their political rights, control their ability to farm their own land, and discriminate against them because of who they are. Many live under a military occupation, or have spent decades in refugee camps. Palestinian families endure arbitrary detention, excessive use of force, evictions, demolition of their homes, and are denied freedom of movement.
The United States government enables this humanitarian crisis with financial support of government policies in the region that continue to allow human rights violations. The U.S. supplies approximately $10 Million dollars a day in ongoing military support paid for with American tax dollars.
We call for justice for the Palestinian people, and solidarity with them, in their continuing suffering.